


Eyes of Cymophane

by wildforwyld



Series: the ahn jaewon angst/whump channel [7]
Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: And I Mean Slightest, Brotherly Angst, Brothers, Cat Ahn Jaewon, Cat Ears, Cats, Cute, Dongjun Brothers AU, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Somehow My Pride And Joy, Supportive MAYHEM, The Slightest Bit of Crack, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26449393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforwyld/pseuds/wildforwyld
Summary: Daehyun exits the bathroom, yawning and rubbing his eyes. The dorm is empty and quiet. He enters his bedroom again, and notices something."Wyld? Huh, he's not here..."Then a fluffy black mound in the top bunk catches his eye."Is that a cat?"
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kang Dongho | D.Min & Kim Daehyun & Lee Minsoo, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld/Kang Dongho | D.Min
Series: the ahn jaewon angst/whump channel [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884922
Comments: 13
Kudos: 76





	1. The Cat

**Author's Note:**

> So at first I was gonna do a traditional no mayhem au where "dongho lets in a stray cat he found and it turns into a cute guy" but then i was like, no, let's just complicate things. Also, sorry for the weird name switch between 'Wyld' and his cat name, but I'm absolute trash at writing sometimes sooo :)))

“Dongho! Minsoo! Come look at this!”

Dongho starts his day grouchy and confused, wonder _whom the fuck_ thought it was a good idea to wake him up so early. 

“Daehyun…” Minsoo yawns, scratching his head as he rises from his bed, “What is it? It’s 6:00…”

“It’s 8, hyung. But anyway, there’s a cat in Wyld’s bed!”

The silver-haired male instantly awakens and whips around to look at Dae as the black-haired male fumbles with his shirt twisted into a knot, as usual. 

_‘Cat? ’_ Dongho wonders sleepily, _‘I like cats...Wait, why is there a cat in Wyld’s bed? '_

The two half-awake hyungs trudge towards the bedroom, slightly curious about whether Daehyun was right or not. Maybe it’s just a new stuffed animal, or something. This wouldn’t have been the first time. Daehyun once thought he saw a live rabbit in their kitchen, when in reality it was a gift from one of Dongho’s fans. 

To their surprise and delight, there is indeed a real cat on Wyld’s bed. It’s a ragamuffin, one with fluffy black fur. It’s asleep, peacefully stretched out among the sheets on the top bunk.

“How the hell did it even get up there?” Dongho questions, genuinely searching for an answer. There’s nowhere close enough to jump from, and obviously, cats can’t climb ladders, “Did Wyld put him up there?”

“I don’t think so. I haven’t seen Wyld at all this morning. He was here last night….I didn’t hear him leave either. I wonder where he went…”

“Weren’t you asleep?” Minsoo sasses, “You wouldn’t have heard him leave.”

“I’m a light sleeper! But yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe he was being extra quiet…”

The three make their way to the kitchen for breakfast, letting the new feline rest for a bit. It’s quite puzzling to think about how the cat might have gotten in. They live on the 5th floor, so it’s not like it got in through the window. Maybe it belonged to another neighbor, and snuck out through the vents. That would make sense.

“That’s a cute-ass cat.”

“Right? With it’s fluffy fur and ears… It looks so soft too!”

Dongho couldn’t deny it, the cat _was_ indeed very cute. As you might already know, Dongho is quite the feline lover. He had his own cat, Boba, but she was sent back to the USA when he moved into this dorm with MAYHEM. 

“Shouldn’t we take him to a shelter?” The oldest suggests, taking a bite of his newly acquired salad.

“No!” Minsoo exclaims, slamming his hands down on the kitchen counter in order to further emphasize his point, “He’s ours right now. We’re not allowed to own pets anyway, so let’s just keep him until we’re forced to give him away!”

Dongho shrugs, “We’re going to have to take him at some point, so enjoy yourself, I guess.” as if he didn’t secretly want the cat to stay as well.

Minsoo cheers, pulling on a hoodie and grabbing his wallet. He takes a hold of the scruff of Dongho’s neck and pulls, attempting to drag him along.

“Let’s go!”

Dongho stands up, raising an eyebrow at the shorter male, “What are you doing?”

Minsoo takes his sleeve now, and tugs at it. “You’re coming with me to buy things for the cat. You’re a cat person, so you know this stuff. Come on!”

“No, I’m eating.”

“Come onnnn!!”

“No.”

“Ugh, fine then! I’ll go by myself!” Minsoo huffs and lets go, marching out the door.

Half an hour later, he returns, carrying a large box with a random array of items balanced on top.

“Hyung?” Daehyun peeks his head out of his room, “What’s all that?”

“It’s all stuff for the cat,” Minsoo huffs, grunting as he dumps the stuff on their coffee table, “A litter box, a collar, and cat food. I had to ask the workers what cats need, because _somebody_ didn’t want to come with me.”

“I was eating, ok?”

“That’s no excuse! You—”

_*mrrow*_

The three look towards the doorway. There was the cat, glancing around with his piercing golden eyes, flickering his tail and meowing to the three.

“Oh, hey Lutz!”

“Lutz?”

“That’s her name now.”

“Minsoo, it’s a male cat. Didn’t you see?”

He crosses his arms and huffs, “Lutz can be a gender-neutral name! And how was I supposed to know? Anyway, if you’re so smart, you name him.”

“Popcorn. Easily.”

The cat watches them, very confused and overwhelmed. His eyes dart from Dae, to Dongho, to Minsoo. 

“Popcorn? What kind of—”

“How about Avery?”

The spotlight moves to Dae, who had begun to unpack the new cat stuff. Fortunately, neither man could say no to him. 

“Yeah, that’s good.”

“Sure.”

***

For some reason, Avery wouldn’t eat. Daehyun had opened a can of the food, and placed it in front of him. Still, the cat would sit silently, ears flattened against his head, and eyes wary. It seemed pretty normal in Dongho’s mind, the cat just appeared out of nowhere, probably confused and frightened out of his wits.

When the cat only looked at the can and then continued meowing at them, ears still flat and eyes still wide, Dae moved slowly, dumping the canned foods onto a plate for him.

“Dae, we eat off that, what are you doing?”

“It’s just a plate, hyung! He’s feeling scared, this makes it easier to eat.”

“Dae,” Dongho sighs, leaning over from his place on the couch, “He’s going to feel scared regardless. Just let him alone for a bit, let him explore.”

“You’re a real expert, aren’t you?” Minsoo winks.

“Shut up.”

***

Avery didn’t explore as much as Dongho thought he might. It wasn’t strange, because most cats are like that in new environments, but Avery didn’t seem like he was that type. With the way Avery only sat and waited, you would think that he was expecting something.

Dongho also knows that cats don’t usually appreciate being touched a lot, so he tries to refrain from entering his personal space too much. Minsoo, on the other hand, is now picking up Avery for the fourth time this morning. He drags him to the couch, plopping down and placing the animal in his lap. Dongho watches curiously, wondering why, why doesn't the cat move? Every time he tried to do such a thing to Boba, she’d immediately jump off, flick her tail, and strut away from him. 

The silver-haired male picks up a stick with a feather on a string attached, waves it around, and drops the feather in Avery’s face. Avery jumps back, startled by the new item. He seems confused, almost afraid. He doesn’t move much either, he just stays in one spot, anxiously looking around and down at himself.

Over the course of the day, Avery slowly began to seem more comfortable in the apartment. He started moving around more, walking into different rooms and jumping onto short surfaces. There even comes a point where the feline tries to jump on their couch. Suprisingly, his movements are rather clumsy, even a bit wild. 

_‘What the hell’s wrong with him?_ ’ Dongho, as you might already know, has been a cat owner for most of his life, but never have any of his pets ever been as awkward as Avery. It was strange, seeing such unnatural behavior coming from the animal. The ragamuffin would throw himself upward, forepaws up in the air, and hind legs stretched in a jump. As soon as he hits the surface of the couch, he scrambles for a grip, trying his hardest to pull himself up. It was almost like watching a toddler, with how ungraceful he was.

***

At some point around noon, Daehyun begins to make instant noodles. 

“Hyung! Where’s the pot?”

“Which pot?”

“The good one, the lucky one!”

“It’s in the dish rack!”

“Oh, OK!”

Daehyun takes his pot out, and fills it with water. Then, he sets it on the stove to boil. Like most people, he leaves the pot on its own a while and walks away, because who watches water boil? 

Meanwhile, Avery creeps into the kitchen to take a look at Dae’s creation. The water’s come to a rolling boil by then, bubbling as fierce as water possibly can. Avery, or rather, Wyld watches the pot for a moment.

‘ _It’s going to start evaporating if Dae doesn’t come back...Maybe I should go look for him. No, I’m already up here on the counter, I don’t want to have to struggle to do it again. I’ll just turn it off for him. Maybe that'll help them realize I'm not a cat! I sure hope it does, I don't think I can get out of this situation on my own._ ’

‘Avery’ reaches over, stretching his cat arm out as much as he can, and nudges the dial on the stove to it’s ‘Off’ position. He hadn’t realized the three were watching him do it, but that’s just all the better, isn’t it?

“Oh my god that’s so cute!” Dae exclaims, his hands clapping on his cheeks, “He turned off the water for me!”

“Damn, he’s a smart ass cat.”

Dongho gapes at the two, “Do none of you realize what he just did? He has intelligence. What the hell…?” 

Despite his concern, no one questions anything about ‘Avery’s’ “cat-ness”. The day continues, simple and lazy, for a change. No plans, no practice, no meetings. Just them and their dorm.

‘Avery', however, finds himself pacing around the living room. 

_‘Why is this happening to me? Did I do something wrong? Are some of our fans mad at me, and they cast a spell to do this or something? Ah, listen to me, I'm going crazy...'_

“Avery?” The blond member calls out to him, a slight hint of concern in his eyes. “What are you doing? You look lonely. Come with me.”

Before ‘Avery’ can do anything to get away from the insistent male, he is lifted up into the air, and snuggled against Dae as the man carries him. _'He has a warm smell,'_ he notes as Dae carries him, _'Not like anything in particular, but just warm, like a home'_

Dae places him down again inside the room, and climbs into his bed with his phone. “I haven’t been able to be lazy like this in forever! It’s nice, but I shouldn’t get used to it. Anyway, enjoy yourself, Avery! Explore the room, this is your temporary home now.”

So ‘Avery’ does as he’s told. He sniffs around, wondering whether a cat’s smell is as acute as a dog’s. He can’t tell, of course, but it does seem a tad stronger than it was before. Then again, his human body’s sense of smell was always terrible. 

Upon turning to see a pile of his human clothes, ‘Avery’ gets an idea.

_'What if I try to go through my stuff and use it, so they start suspecting something? I’ll try that! ’_

He bounds over to the pile of his fallen hoodies and pants, digs through them, and sits in it. He makes eye contact with the blond on the bed.

“Avery..? What are you doing? Aw, you’re so cute. Those are Wyld’s clothes. I don’t know where he is right now, but he’ll probably be back later.”

_‘I’m right here!_ _’_ ‘Avery’ tries to scream at him, but instead the scream translates as a loud *MEOW*

Dae smiles sweetly at him, but goes back to looking at his phone as ‘Avery’ huffs in disappointment and weary vexation. 

Then Minsoo comes in, about to ask Dae where the scissors were. He spots the cat buried in his group member’s clothes, and instantly melts.

“Oh that’s so cute! What’s he doing?”

“I don’t know. He keeps digging in Wyld’s clothes.”

Dongho soon walks by the door, his attention drawn to the scene.

“Who’s doing what?”

“Avery. Look, he’s sitting in Wyld’s clothes.”

A ghost of a smile appears on the black-haired male’s lips. The sight is insanely cute, he admits, but not enough to make him forget where he is. He has a reputation to keep, an image to uphold, of course. 

Minsoo and Dongho leave, off to mind their own business. ‘Avery’ sits in deep thought, wondering what to do now.

He decides that, maybe if he walks around a bit, as if he were a human, he’d get their attention and they’d understand. But how to do that…?

Of course, he was sitting right on top of the answer.

***

Dae looks up again a few moments later, wondering why Minsoo just whisper-screamed, “Oh my god!” from the kitchen. He leaves his phone on his bed, and walks out of his room.

In the kitchen, the other two members are standing together to the side, making way for His Royal Highness, dressed in his elegant robes (Wyld’s favorite hoodie). Avery looks back at Dae as soon as he enters the room.

“What is this? Which one of you did this to him?”

“We didn’t do it. He just came out looking like this.” Dongho calmly explains.

Minsoo is crouching, his phone out and pointed at the cat. He snaps a picture of him, and "Aww"'s some more.

“Why do you think he likes Wyld’s clothes so much?” Dae wonders, “He’s not even here right now, they haven’t met.”

Minsoo shrugs, “Who knows. Maybe it’s the scent.”

“That’s not fair! I want him to wear my stuff too!”

“No you don’t,” Dongho pulls the hoodie off the cat and takes it back to their room with Dae in tow, “He’ll get cat hair all over you.”

***

Again, ‘Avery’ tries to mess with his own stuff. They still aren’t even close to realizing that he’s not a cat yet, but he’s willing to keep trying. He’ll do whatever he can to keep himself from losing hope. Hope is all he really ever had, anyway.

He looks up to see his phone that was still on the dresser

_‘Perfect,’_ He thinks, practically grinning in delight, _‘Now all I gotta do is get Dae’s attention, unlock my phone, and show him that I can do it. He’ll definitely understand that a normal cat wouldn’t know how to use a phone, let alone unlock one that has a passcode!’_

So he does as he plans. He pounces on his phone, which bounces to the floor. Dae looks up for a second to see the source of the noise, but then looks back down. ‘Avery’ then sits down in front of the gadget, and meows, loud and clear for his friend to hear him. Daehyun looks up again with a questioning look on his face.

“Avery?”

‘Avery’ now rushes to turn on his phone, while the attention is still on him, but then he realizes. He can’t turn on his phone with these paws. 

Dae looks back down again, and doesn’t look back up when ‘Avery’ meows at him. ‘Avery’ sulks, and walks away, wondering what he should do now.

_‘That didn’t work...maybe...'_ Avery sits in contemplation. What kinds of things could he point at that aren't electronic or require the use of thumbs? His gaze travels to their shared shelves.

_'_ _Yes! This has to do something, right? They’ve gotta figure out something after I do this...’_

***

Daehyun, Minsoo, and Dongho watch in confusion as their new cat brings out an album. It’s their album, _Not Found_ , in LP form. It’s a tradition of theirs, to buy their own albums in LP form, even if they don’t have a record player. Well, Daehyun insists that they get one, but of course they can’t claim it as a company expense, and none of them think it’s of enough use to warrant a purchase out of their own pockets. 

‘Avery’ pushes the album off the shelf. This _could_ be seen as a regular kind of cat thing, but the shelf is pretty out of the way, and _Not Found_ isn’t even on the far edge. So obviously, ‘Avery’ did this on purpose, right? Nope! According to the other three, he just was exploring and happened to knock it down.

So ‘Avery’ follows the album, and descends the quick way by just jumping off. He landed quite painfully, but never mind that. With all attention still focused on him, he places his paw on Wyld’s face (the Wyld on the album cover), and then directs the paw at himself. 

And of course, all he got were two cooing voices saying, “aww” and another pair of eyes looking at him with interest. That’s all he’s seen, literally all day.

_‘ Why don’t you guys get it?! ’_

***

At bedtime, ‘Avery’ manages to get Minsoo to understand that he wants to get up on his bed, so Minsoo lifts him up. He snuggles in the blankets, feeling quite frightened, exasperated, but most of all, still shocked.

‘ _What am I going to do? How would mute people with no arms communicate? Oh, I don’t know... Or maybe I could use morse code! No wait, I don’t think they know morse code. Oh geez....Wait! I’ll just write it! I can find a way to do it. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll do it._ ’

And so ‘Avery’ creates his plan as the three others sleep, only being able to rest himself when everything is decided and complete.

***

‘Avery’ gets up bright and early in the morning, around 6 am. The dorm is silent, and nobody is awake except for him. He spends the morning gathering his supplies as quietly and carefully as he can. 

  
  


Around 8 o’clock, Minsoo walks out of his room, sleepy and bleary eyed. The first thing he sees is their ragamuffin with a sheet of paper in front of him and a bowl of black paint on the side. The cat then proceeds to dip his paw into the paint. He then puts it on the paper, dips his paw in again, puts it on the paper, and repeats until the sheet is filled with cat prints.

The cat sees it as a perfectly laid out message saying, “I’M WYLD”

Minsoo, now along with Daehyun, sees it as a mess of black paw prints all over. They shake their heads at the cat.

“Was he trying to paint?”

“I don’t know, I just came out here and he was dipping his paw in it.”

Dongho appears now, fresh out of the shower and wondering what commotion was going on. His eyes flit from the cat to the other two. He sighs and decides to ignore them, walking pass.

“Have you two seen Wyld at all? Has he texted you?”

“No, not yet. Why are you so worried? He’s an adult, he’ll be fine.”

Dongho continues drying his hair and sniffs, “I’m just asking. If anything happens to him, it’ll be all over the news. We can’t exactly afford to have these many scandals, you know.”

Minsoo sits at the kitchen counter, “He wasn’t like this before we debuted, you know. I guess you could say that people just change like that, but I...I don't know, I just think it sounds too unrealistic to be true.”

Nobody says anything. Nobody notices ‘Avery’ hanging his head, pleading in desperation for whoever’s out there to please, _please_ help him. He’s practically giving up now, thinking, _'Maybe I should just get used to this, living like a cat. I can’t see a way out._ ’

***

_‘Avery seems a lot more relaxed today, although he acted strangely in the morning._ ’ Dongho notices, watching the cat nap on Daehyun’s lap. He was quiet and rarely moved before, but compared to his behavior now, nothing seemed right. Now he often settles to watching Minsoo as he games or goes with Dae when he’s sitting alone. 

Dongho was definitely curious about this animal. First, because of his behavior, and second because he doesn’t approach Dongho as much as the other two. It was strange, not because it made him upset, but because cats usually don’t like the people that pay too much attention to them as the others did. 

_‘Well, whatever,'_ He turns away, _'I’ve got somewhere to be today._ ’

***

It’s late night when Dongho comes home. ‘Avery’ is seated on the couch, sleepily trying to stay awake. It's already 2 am, and Dongho's still out. Minsoo and Daehyun had already gone to bed, unconcerned about the whereabouts of either Wyld or Dongho. He knew that they did care, but how could they so peacefully fall asleep knowing Dongho was still out there, at this time of night. He didn’t have Wyld’s reputation, so that’s no excuse, and he wasn’t someone who often stayed up so late outside.

Finally, around 2:30, Dongho comes home. His head is hanging, his feet are dragging, and his long coat falls to the floor in a puddle around his shoes. He looked exhausted and despondent, almost like he wanted to collapse. 

Dongho doesn’t notice the black ragamuffin in the dark, watching him with piercing, golden irises. He falls onto the couch, holding his head in his hands. His eyes are weary, filled with tears, just on the brink of spilling. He won’t let them.

For a few minutes, they sit together, ‘Avery’ shocked by the scene playing out in front of him, and Dongho, distressed by something but too afraid to let it out.

The ragamuffin makes a move now, getting up quietly to go sit with the man. Dongho jumps a bit upon contact, but soon relaxes his tense muscles, and reaches to scratch the cat behind his ears.

‘Avery’ moves to sit on his lap, allowing a better angle for him. He wanted to listen to him, to be there for Dongho as well as he could, even in this state he’s in now. 

“Hey…” Dongho begins, his voice raspy and tired, “Avery. Didn’t expect to see you here. I hope you don’t mind me telling you stuff… I don’t have Boba with me here anymore. Boba’s _my_ cat. She moved back to the US a little while ago.”

‘Avery’ listens intently. He’s happy, because he’ll get to be the support his friend needs. But there's also a nagging feeling inside him. A nagging feeling filled with anger, irritated by the thought that there could possibly be something that'd cause his hyung to come home in such a way.

“I was visiting my brother today. His name is Junsu, and he works at a coffee shop. He’s my little brother. We grew up together, did most things together as kids. I tried to support him through everything he wanted to do, but….We still don’t have such a good relationship. I...I know it’s my fault, I know that I could’ve fixed things, and that he ran away from home because of me, but...It hurts. It still hurts so goddamn much. “

The cat watches his hyung. He’s known that Dongho hadn’t the best relationship with his family, but he had no idea about his feelings on the subject. It was something that he was too scared to mention, too insecure about his relationship with his group mates to try to pry into their personal business.

He snuggles Dongho, burying his head in his sleeve. Dongho smiles sadly down at the feline, and continues stroking his ear. Dongho whispers to him, “I miss Boba sometimes. She was like my emotional support. I’d tell her things and...somehow I’d feel better afterwards. Like I said, she’s in the USA right now but...You can be her substitute, I guess.”

They spend a few moments in comfortable silence together, not moving or making a sound. ‘Avery’ tries to relax in his lap as much as he can, but he can’t help but want to talk, to tell him that he’s not alone, that he’s there for him, whenever he needs him.

Dongho begins again. “You know that guy you’re obsessed with? His name is Wyld. Well, that’s his stage name, at least. He’s...He’s been gone for two days now. We don’t know where he is, because his phone is still in his room. The others don’t really seem to care much about him being gone and it just...I want to know that he’s safe. I don’t think I could handle something really bad happening to him.”

Dongho pauses for a second. ‘Avery’ is startled at the sudden change in his voice, the concern laced in throughout. When had someone last thought of him like this? It felt so foreign, to be cared about like this when it's someone other than his mom.

“I really hate this...I hate it, because I told myself I wouldn’t do this anymore, that I wouldn’t let myself have feelings for a man but… I just can’t help that when I look at him, when I look at Jaewon...I....I shouldn’t just be venting my feelings to a cat. God, I’m pathetic.”

Dongho stands up to leave. He places ‘Avery’ on the side of the couch, sheds his shoes, and begins leaving the room. Right before he heads into the hall, he turns back to look at the cat. ‘Avery’s’ just sitting there, silent, unmoving. They make eye contact, and upon staring into those powerful golden eyes of his, Dongho swears he feels a tinge of guilt. 

“...don’t look at me like that. Fine. I’m sorry, I just… Nevermind. Come with me, Avery.”

Dongho comes back a second to lift the cat into his arms. It’s a lot softer than ‘Avery’ expected. His embrace was welcoming and gentle, and he smelled...natural. It wasn’t a warm scent like Dae’s. It was just the smell of Dongho. Simple and pleasant. And ‘Avery’ loved it.

Dongho places his companion on his bed, and smiles slightly at him as he climbs in. He lays his head on his pillow, closes his eyes, and soon drifts off into sleep.

‘Avery’ watches the other male in his sleep. What did he mean by having feelings for a man?

_‘There’s no way…’_ , the cat thinks, his heart thumping faster and faster with every second he spends looking at his hyung. He hadn’t really ever thought of him in that way, so why now? 

And gosh, Dongho looks so _ethereal_ in his sleep. He's peaceful, with his mouth forming a slight smile and his procerus muscle relaxed. ‘Avery’ really _is_ falling hard, isn’t he?

***

In the morning, Dongho wakes up with his arm draped over something, and his nose being tickled by some kind of hair. He opens his eyes slowly, and…

There lying in bed next to him, was a sleeping Wyld, with black cats ears at the top of his head, and a long tail curling around his legs.


	2. The Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And then I woke up, and I was human again! At least mostly. And I got a boyfriend out of it, too!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i know the cell phone magically appeared in Wyld's pocket, but let's just say that it was on him in his sleep but transferred to the desk when he was gone, and then went back with him when he came back. That's not too confusing, right? :3 
> 
> Also yes im aware as of what we know now that the ceo doesnt orchestrate scandals, but i like being dramatic ok

_There lying in bed next to him, was a sleeping Jaewon, with black cats ears at the top of his head, and a long tail curling around his legs._

“What the f—”

Dongho’s barely-awake brain can’t exactly handle this situation in a ‘normal’ way at the moment. He pushes Wyld off him, onto the ground. Wyld, who was now awake and extremely confused, lands with an “oof”, his legs forming a ‘W’. His eyes widen, both with surprise and with joy, and he looks down at himself before patting his legs, and running a hand through his hair. His fingers find his new ears, ones that are placed at the top of his head and covered with black fur, and his joy quickly submits to confusion again

Dongho watches the man curiously. Whatever phenomenon this is, he hopes it won’t last long. Wyld has already come close to giving him a heart attack twice over the past two days. Now, this? Wyld's here, in bed next to him for _some reason_ , but he’s here. There’s also an additional problem they had, one that’s really confusing Dongho.

Wyld has cat ears, a tail, a collar, and golden eyes with slit pupils. This must have been some kind of joke, but Dongho was far from laughing. He also seems to just barely be noticing his new features, as he's curiously stroking his tail a bit, and playing with the bell on his collar.

“S-Sorry...Wyld? What—?”

“What the fuck?! Wyld?! What are you wearing?!” 

Minsoo’s up now, rubbing his head and yawning. He seems to be thinking the exact same as Dongho, he's just more vocal about it.

Footsteps can be heard from the hall. Now he’s got Daehyun going. The blond runs in, spatula dripping with grease in hand.

“What happened? What ha—Oh…Wyld?”

  
  


Wyld looks up at Daehyun, his head tilting just a bit. He smiles brightly at the male, waves, and cheers, “Hi Dae!”

No one says a word. They all stare at Wyld, asking for an answer. Wyld senses this, and tries his best to give it. He begins timidly explaining, “It was getting really stressful not being able to communicate, so I’m glad I’m back. You see, I was the cat. I’m… I was ‘Avery’.”

The room is silent for a few moments. Nobody moves, speaks, or even breathes. Then the three exclaim in unison.

“What?!”

“It’s true,” Wyld admits, tugging at the bottom hem of his shirt, “ See, look, I’ve still got my collar on, only bigger somehow. Remember, Dae, when you were boiling the water and I turned it off for you? And Minsoo, you would let me sit and watch you game, and Dongho…”

Wyld pauses briefly at Dongho, wondering whether he should mention last night. He doesn’t.

“You...You took my hoodie away when I was wearing it, remember?”

They’re all silent, and watch Wyld in disbelief. This isn’t possible, right? People can’t turn into cats. But then why is everything he says true? And why does he have ears and a tail? There’s no way…

“I-I believe you, Wyld.” Daehyun murmurs, and the other two nod their heads in reluctant agreement. 

“But how? How did you...you know?”

Wyld shrugs, “I’m not sure. I just woke up a couple days ago like this. I’m glad I’m back to normal pretty much, but for some reason I still have a tail and cat ears, and I’m feeling a lot more flexible than before. I guess that’s how I’m able to sit like this.”

By now, Dongho’s gotten over his previously stunned state, and has processed what there is to think about. He’s obviously confused, he can’t quite grasp the situation, but there’s one particular thing that stands out to him.

_‘ If he really was that cat then…He heard everything I said. He saw me come home, and I told him all that and...Oh my god._ _’_

Wyld’s eyes suddenly lose their excitement as a buzzing sound comes from his pocket. His hand jumps to his phone and digs around the pocket to find it. Color drains from his face as he looks at his phone. His fingers begin fidgeting with the hem of his shirt again, and he stands up.

“U-Um...I should probably go see the CEO right now…I’ll be back.”

Minsoo, who seems to be barely able to wrap his head around the situation, sheds light on the problem staring them in the face.

“What? But you just woke up! And how are you going to go out with…those?” He points at Wyld’s head. His ears.

“Oh...right!”

“I’ll help you, Wyld,” Dae beams, leaving the room, “Come here.”

Wyld’s collar jingles as he walks, and his ears twitch every now and then. Dongho groans silently, _‘When I said he reminded me of a cat, I didn’t want the world to actually prove it or anything...What the hell?'_

Dae had taken Wyld in their room to help dress him. Soon enough he came out of the room, wearing a beanie to cover his ears, loose pants to hide his tail easily, and a hoodie. Of course, Wyld didn’t own a pair of his own eye color contacts, so he would have to go without. 

Minsoo and Dae busy themselves with helping their groupmate get dressed.

“Here, tuck your tail in like this...no, Dae, put it in the crotch area! If you do it in the leg it’s probably uncomfortable…”

“But if you do that it looks like he has a big—”

Wyld interrupts them, flushing a bright pink, “H-Hey, It’s fine! I can do it through the leg, it’s not uncomfortable. I’ll…”

Swallowing, he looks at his shoes, a crestfallen expression sneaking it’s way onto his face before he corrects himself and plasters on a smile. 

“I’ll be going to see CEO Park now. See you later.”

He steps out the door, leaving the other three to watch him go with tense concern floating in the air. They soon return to their own activities of the day, trying to act as if they hadn’t noticed. 5 minutes into this play, Minsoo groans and throws down his chopsticks onto the counter.

“That’s it. I’m gonna go follow him.”

The other two look up from their meals in surprise. Did they hear him right?

“You’re going to go follow him?” Dongho slowly repeats, “What? Why?”

“Didn’t you see him when he saw CEO Park called him? He was terrified! Somethings wrong, and I’m going to go find out what it is.”

They can’t deny it. All three had caught the distressed look on his face before it was swiftly masked by a small smile.

“Well,” Dae huffed, placing down his bowl and chopsticks, “I’m going with you! If somethings wrong, I want to help!”

They look to Dongho, almost asking, but not really asking. He knows they’ll force him to go anyway, so he gets up and gathers his things, sighing, “Fine, let’s hurry up and go, before we can’t find him anymore.”

And so they do. The three catch a taxi on the side of the road, and soon find themselves in front of their company’s building. Surprisingly, their other group mate is standing right in front of the entrance, his head tilted upwards to look at the sky. He reluctantly heads inside, giving the three a chance to move forward with their mission. They run through the building, following right behind Wyld with every step he takes. 

“Do we really have to hide behind corners like this?” Dongho grumbles, as he’s watching in the middle behind the corner wall. 

Dae shushes him before proclaiming in an equally loud voice, “Of course! This is how they do it in the comics and animes! We need to be just like them in order for this to work.”

“That’s not—ugh, nevermind.”

They follow the red-haired man until he arrives at the elevators. Dae and Minsoo start towards them once the doors close in front of Wyld, but Dongho holds them back.

“We can’t take the elevators. What if we get there at the exact time he does? He’ll see us. We should take the stairs.”

The silver-haired male tries to protest, but his objections are silenced by a cold hand. Dongho motions towards the stairs, and Minsoo rolls his eyes, but they go.

***

“ _huff_... _huff_...Do-Dongho…why?!”

“It was only 7 flights. You’re not dying.”

“Easy for you to say!” Minsoo coughs, “You’re tall! And you’re already fucking ripped, so what’s your point? Couldn’t we have taken the elevator up 8 floors and then walked down one?”

“Shut up.”

“Guys, we’re here to see what’s up with Wyld, remember? Hurry up! His meeting must have already started.”

The two bickering men stop to look at the youngest and nod their heads, agreeing to cease the nonsense. CEO Park's office isn't too far from the elevator, so they can silent-walk over without taking too long and missing the meeting. His secretary isn't in, thankfully, and nobody else seems to be around. The three crack open the door a bit, leaving just a 10 centimeter gap for them to peer through and listen into the conversation happening on the other side.

“Wyld. I’ve been calling you several times over the past few days. And you haven’t answered once. You kept me waiting.”

“I’m sorry si—”

“You wait until I'm finished talking,” The CEO snaps, his face contorting into a sneer, “Zoe from LAYLA was asking about you, she was in town yesterday and we had the perfect opportunity, but _you_ were off busy doing _who-knows-what_.”

Wyld looks to the ground and doesn’t say a word. His eyes are concealed, and his hands tremble, clutching the hem of his jacket. 

“Need I remind you that MAYHEM is indebted to me? Perhaps I should estimate how much we would have made off Zoe, and add it your debt?”

“No, please.”

“No?”

“Please,” Wyld begs, his voice close to a barely audible whisper, “Don’t punish them because of me.”

CEO Park smirks, sick satisfaction disgracing his face. He continues in a stern, intimidating voice, “Then I want you to go to that club near your old apartment this Sunday. Blackout. Go before 3 PM, and order a drink there. Don’t wear a mask, and at all costs, make sure the paparazzi see you, or else you’ll be the one to blame when I double your debt.”

“Yes, sir.” Wyld nods meekly, before beginning to leave.

Now realizing that the person they were spying on was coming their way, the three scramble back to the stairwell. They walk back down to the first floor, the conversation they just witnessed still fresh in their minds.

Daehyun speaks slowly, a melancholy tone added to his words, “I can’t believe it.” 

And nobody says anything else for the rest of the way down. After descending the entire way, Dongho sees a figure just outside the entrance of the building. He’s not moving, just standing there, shoulders slumped and head down. 

“Jaewon!”

Dae runs towards him. He’s reaching for him. Wyld turns, whipping around faster than they’d ever seen. As soon as he spots Daehyun heading in his direction with Dongho and Minsoo trailing behind, worried expressions on their faces, he smiles. It looked like any other but….

Dongho knew it was fake. It was painfully obvious, even more now than it was before. Of course, this was also because they had just seen him being threatened by their CEO. But he can tell, from the way his eyes don’t change, and the corners of his mouth stretch a tad more than what would be considered normal.

He calls out to them upon realizing they're there, “You guys! What...What are you doing here?”

“We were worried about you!” Minsoo declares, his hands finding a place on the younger’s fragile shoulders, “So we followed you!”

Daehyun wastes no time in wrapping his arms around the smaller male, pulling him into a tight embrace. He buries his nose into the other’s hair, and mumbles, “Hyung. We know what CEO Park is doing. He’s been forcing you to do things and treating you terribly and… we want to help you….”

“N-no, what do you mean? He’s not…”

“Hyung, you don’t have to lie about this! Please, trust us. We’re your friends.”

And then it begins. The flood that Wyld had so desperately tried to conceal and hide away from his group breaks through. He sobs into Dae’s chest, shaking hands clutching his shirt as if it’s his life’s purpose.

Dongho, who up until now was watching the scene from afar, comes over. Wyld pulls away from Daehyun now, and….Dongho’s heart feels close to stopping. Here’s Wyld, _Jaewon_ , in front of him, teary-eyed and exhausted from all of the world's expectations weighing down on him, crushing untill he couldn't even breath. He was suffering too. 

He pats Wyld’s head, and caresses his cheek a bit, wiping away his tears with a swipe of his thumb. 

God, how could they have not known before? 

Dongho’s blood boils with rage, but he has to keep it under control for Jaewon’s sake. They know that they need to fix this, that they need to confront CEO Park and make him pay, but this isn't even the main issue right now. They would have to save that problem for later.

  
  


***

Back at their dorm, the four gather around a table to figure out their situation.

The atmosphere is quite awkward but also comfortable, somehow. Jaewon’s ears flick every now and then, his anxiousness now more easily noticed by the others. 

“So what do we do then?” Dongho asks as a bird flies past their window, hoping maybe his group mates would have an idea, because what would they say if they knew that their hyung was depending on them when they needed him?

“We should call a witch! They know about this stuff, right?”

“Daehyun, witches aren’t real. They’re all fakes.”

Dae huffs and crosses his arms, leaning against Jaewon, who jumps at the contact, “You can’t say that witches aren’t real if you don’t know! I mean, if magic isn’t real then explain how Jaewon turned into a cat?”

Dongho’s quiet at first, acknowledging that Daehyun was right. There is a chance that this was all the work of some other magical being, maybe one of trickery, evil, or some other reasons that could lead them to do such a thing to Jaewon.

He mumbles, “We should probably call a doctor though. Maybe we can keep this a secret from the media that way?”

“You kidding me? There’s no way we can keep this from the press,” Minsoo remarks, his arms crossed in mild agitation, “We’re going to have to come out with it. The only question is, how?”

Just then, a knock comes to their door. A woman stands there, fidgeting and nervous, as if she had just been caught stealing. Dongho’s the one that answered. With an irritated smile, he asks her, “Yes? Is there anything you need?”

The woman can barely bring herself to look at Dongho, and for a moment he wonders whether this is a crazy fan that found them and tried to play ‘the girl next door’ or not.

“Um...does a person named Ahn Jaewon live here?”

_‘Ah, yeah it’s a fan.'_

“Sorry,” he hisses, beginning to close the door, “He doesn’t.”

“Ah, wait! I know that he’s turned into a cat! And...I know why…”

Dongho stops, and looks back at the other three. They’re equally as surprised as he is.

“What...What do you mean? Who are you?”

She runs a hand through her notably greasy hair, and sighs, “You see, I know he lives here, I was just asking to not seem creepy. And I know he turned into a cat because...I’m the one that did it. I didn’t mean to! I just…”

The others soon come up to the door, Daehyun wondering who it was and Minsoo wrapping a blanket around Jaewon. If they weren’t in the situation, Dongho might have stopped to watch them for a while.

“I’m a witch,” she mumbles as Daehyun’s cheers of ‘I told you so!’ in the background are silenced by Minsoo’s hand, “And I put something in his drink that turns people into animals.”

Before Dongho can take her by the collar of her shirt, pin her against a wall and demand an answer to his question of _why the fuck_ she did this, She waves her hands, almost saying ‘No!’ and yelps, “Wait! I didn’t do it on purpose! It was at a café called Coffee Days, I was trying to give it to someone else as a prank on a friend of mine but I got the wrong drink! That’s why I’m here, to make things right! Where is he? I need to talk to him."

Jaewon steps forward, still wearing a mountain of blankets. His ears somehow still manage to protrude from the mess of fabrics, and his tail curls around his waist. 

“Are you Ahn Jaewon?”

“Yes, that’s me.” Jaewon smiles kindly, but somehow with these piercing eyes of his, he seemed almost mischievous. Dongho ignores the shivers that go down his spine, and moves out of the way to allow room for the smaller male to walk in.

“I'm Jeong Yoonhee. Here,” The woman hands him a bottle of some kind of clear liquid, “This is the antidote. I know you all are probably already suspicious, and think that I’m some kind of fake, but here, I’ll prove it.”

A cloud of smoke appears, and the woman is gone. In her place is a dog. A poodle, to be specific. Then the cloud appears again, and she’s back.

“See, so I am a witch, ok? That stuff won’t hurt you. In fact, you’ll probably be able to go back to being normal if you drink it tonight. If you really don’t want to drink it, you can wait, but at this stage it usually takes about 3 to 7 days for the effects to wear off.”

“Uh..thanks?” a stunned Jaewon tries to say, but the woman is already gone.

Dongho asks to see the bottle, and Jaewon gives it to him. The taller man examines it closely, as if he had any idea what he was looking for. He gives it back to the younger, and determines that, “They don’t know whether it’s safe or not, so he shouldn’t drink it.”

Dae tries to reason with him, and says, “But hyung, if Wyld doesn’t drink it, he’s going to have to walk around with cat ears for at least 3 days, if not more!”

“And you’re saying this is a good enough reason to risk his safety?”

“No!” He exclaims, “ I’m just saying that I think that we should do this, because that lady hasn’t given us a reason to distrust her. We already saw that she was a witch, and she knows that if anything happens to Wyld, we’ll know who did it. Besides, if anything actually does happen to him, we’ll be here to help, right?”

His hyung said nothing, so he turned to Jaewon and asked, “What do you think?”

“I...I’d like to take it. Thank you, Dongho, for being worried about me, but I’d like to see for myself.”

Dongho smiles to himself. If Jaewon says it's fine with him, he can't exactly tell him what to do. But damn...he’s really fallen hard, hasn’t he?

**

Jaewon drank the antidote that night (he said it tasted just like water) and went to bed. The next morning, he was happy to find out that the tail, ears, and brightly colored eyes were all gone. 

Now, a couple hours later, he’s on the couch, reading glasses on and a book in his hand. He’s cuddled up with a blanket, and even a glass of chocolate milk as a little celebration. He knows what awaits him in the future, and he can’t lie, he’s afraid of it, but he doesn’t let these thoughts stop him from having just one peaceful moment to himself, even if it’s just for a little while.

Minsoo's currently out shopping or something, while Daehyun had gone busking. Meanwhile, Dongho struggles with himself in the other room.

_‘I can’t do this...But I need to. If I don’t tell him now, it’ll never happen and...this is my only chance to make things right and receive the closure I need. ’_

Dongho confronts Jaewon in the living room. He stands a little way away from the other man, and winces when he beams at him.

“Hyung! What’s up?”

“Jaewon, I...You probably already know this but…I have...feelings towards you. I tried to ignore it because we’re coworkers, and you’re a guy and… I was worried you were an unfaithful person, but now… well I know you’re not but...I’m sorry. I just wanted to come out here to let you know,” A painful smile forces its way onto his face, as if to try and reassure the other man that he doesn’t think his own feelings matter either, “I don’t want this to affect our relationship. You don’t owe me anything and—"

He’s unable to finish his sentence. The younger man had bolted towards him in the middle of his sentence and hugged him, shoving his face into his shoulder. His grip was strong, stronger than it ever had been before. 

“Dongho…Please. Don’t talk like that. I...I’m sorry I hadn’t said anything, this is my fault. I feel the same way for you. I just was too nervous to bring it up. Please, Dongho, don’t trivialize your feelings like that.”

Dongho’s still. He doesn’t know what to think, do, or say. Jaewon, looking up at him with those doe eyes of his, Jaewon, who always had the kindest heart. Jaewon loved him. 

A tear manages to trickle down his cheek. It’s been years since that last happened, hasn’t it?

“Hyung…?”

“I love you Jaewon. I...We’ll fix this thing with the CEO. I promise you.”

“...Thank you, hyung. Thank you. And...I love you too. So don’t talk like that again. Please.”

“Ok. Let’s have Chinese for dinner, yeah?”

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3


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